"Zachary, you were too impulsive just now. I know you really hate Victor Hargrove; he took away… Jessica… but you can't challenge him to a starship duel. The application for the starship duel has already been submitted… it can't be canceled… If it really comes down to it, I'll lend you my T2 Hyena." Levi Warren walked beside Zachary, his anxious expression making it seem as if he, not Zachary, was the one participating in the duel.
"No need, I have a starship." Zachary felt a warmth in his heart as he saw Levi's anxious look for him.
Levi truly treated him like a brother, simply because from the day they entered school, Zachary had helped this second-generation rich kid from a merchant family, tutoring him and assisting him with his assignments. Otherwise, Levi would never have passed the exams for all subjects in the previous three years. From then on, their relationship had been very good.
"You have a starship? How come I don't know?" Levi looked at Zachary in surprise.
Zachary was with him almost twenty-four hours a day, except when he was sleeping or using the restroom. How could Levi not know if Zachary had a starship?
"Well, we're going to exchange for one now," Zachary said with a slight smile.
"What? Going to exchange for one now?" Levi froze, then clutched his head: "My Baron young master, that's too big of a joke. You're going to use a starship from the academy's starship warehouse to duel Victor Hargrove?"
Half an hour later.
Zachary and Levi arrived at the academy's starship warehouse.
This place was different from a starport. A starport housed starships ready for immediate departure. A starship warehouse, however, was used for storing starships. Some starships here could even be described as covered in dust, having been stored for who knows how many years.
"Hello, instructor. I'm here to exchange for a starship." Zachary approached the warehouse manager's counter.
The warehouse manager glanced at Zachary. Perhaps because it was already the end of the semester, he knew that third-year students were starting to prepare the starships they would need for the next semester, and he was used to students coming here to exchange for starships.
"Take a look yourself. Here's the list. It has data on each starship model, as well as the required student points." The warehouse manager opened the inquiry window, letting Zachary browse.
The list was filled with starships. There were nearly three hundred of them. However, the vast majority were T1 starships, and most of them were second-hand starships. After all, who would park a new starship here?
"Zachary, you've always done well in your studies. You should have about 30,000 academy points after three semesters. Then exchanging for this T2 Hyena-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer is perfect. It's a starship from twenty years ago, with slight damage to its hull. Although the model is a bit old, the core technology is quite comprehensive." Levi knew that the starship duel was a done deal, and now they could only figure out how to deal with it.
Zachary shook his head, continuing to look.
Levi then introduced several more T2 starships, all quite cost-effective, but Zachary shook his head at each one.
"Young master, how long are you going to take to choose? Although there are over three hundred starships here, only these few are the most suitable." Levi looked at Zachary, who had still not made a decision.
"I've already chosen," Zachary said.
"Chosen? Which one?" Levi looked curious.
Zachary looked at the manager instructor: "Instructor, as long as I have enough points, can I exchange for multiple starships?"
"Indeed, there's no limit on the number of exchanges," the manager instructor nodded.
Zachary checked off several starships in the inquiry window: "Then I'll take these three."
Three?
Levi and the manager instructor were both stunned.
They both simultaneously checked the three starships.
T2 Hyena-class Medium Interstellar Destroyer: Has been in service for fifty-nine years, hull severely damaged, three main guns severely damaged, now repaired… requires 9,000 points.
T2 Gray Wolf-class Light Star Cruiser: Has been in service for sixty-five years… requires 7,000 points.
T2 Devil Crocodile-class Medium Interstellar Battleship: Has been in service for eighty years… requires 11,000 points.
Upon seeing the data for these three starships, Levi and the manager instructor were both dumbfounded.
These three starships were undoubtedly old models among all the starships in the warehouse.
"Are you sure you want to exchange for these three starships? Aren't you going to reconsider? Although these three starships were excellent models in their time, over time, their starship modules have severely aged," the manager instructor advised.
Levi also quickly said, "Zachary, don't joke around. A starship duel is one-on-one. It's useless even if you choose three."
"I'm sure—just these three. Please exchange them for me," Zachary said firmly.
After repeated confirmation from the manager instructor, he finally exchanged these three starships for Zachary.
Levi covered his face beside him. He felt like he was dreaming; he simply couldn't understand what Zachary was doing today.
"These three starships have been transferred to your name. You can retrieve them at any time. If you wish to continue storing them in the warehouse, it's free for one month. After one month, a storage fee will be charged." The manager instructor was now looking at Zachary with the gaze one would give an idiot.
"Instructor, points can also be used to exchange for some starship parts, right? And each student has free access to the starship modification and repair dry dock. I haven't used mine for three semesters, so I should have thirty days of free access," Zachary added.
"Yes," the manager instructor nodded.
"Then I'll write down a list of starship parts here. Also, please trouble the instructor to arrange a starship dry dock for me and send all three of these starships and the starship parts on this list over," Zachary requested.
The manager instructor glanced at the list of parts; they were all very common. And the academy points Zachary had left after exchanging for the starships were just enough to exchange for these.
"Do you need to hire starship engineers or repairmen? They can repair and modify the starship according to your requirements," the manager instructor asked.
"No need," Zachary shook his head.
The manager instructor didn't press further: "I'll have it done for you within half an hour. You'll receive the starship dry dock number then, and you can go directly."
"Thank you, instructor," Zachary said.
After finishing their business, Zachary and Levi left the area.
"What a strange student," the manager instructor muttered.
Walking out of the starship warehouse, Levi couldn't hold back any longer. He grabbed Zachary's shoulder: "Zachary, what exactly are you trying to do? What use can those three dilapidated starships be? You're joking with your future!"
Zachary still calmly said, "Levi, trust me. I'll handle this matter."
"You… forget it, I don't care about you anymore." Levi was a bit angry, waving his hand as if he couldn't be bothered with Zachary.
Zachary felt helpless. What he was about to do, even if he explained it to Levi now, Levi wouldn't believe him. Instead of wasting time, it was better to prove everything with facts when the time came!
*Ding… Third-year student Zachary Chase has obtained usage rights for medium-small starship dry dock number 017. Entry to the starship dry dock is permitted with a student ID card during the usage period.*
Upon receiving the message, Zachary temporarily parted ways with Levi and headed to the starship dry dock.
Arriving at the entrance of the starship dry dock, he swiped his student ID card, and the large door automatically opened. Inside was a very large space, at least the size of three to five football fields. A pungent smell of rust and starship oil wafted toward him.
Zachary walked inside and saw three starships, as if waiting for his arrival. Their rusty hulls testified to their age and history of past battles. Although the academy had repaired and maintained them, they had, after all, been in service for so many years.
Zachary first walked to the workshop's main control panel, brought up holographic screens one by one, and quickly tapped on the holographic keyboard, inputting data one after another. Finally, the data for the three starship models was clearly displayed, and Zachary even edited three-dimensional models.
If one looked closely, they would find that the three-dimensional models of the starships were divided into gray and red areas.
"Combining these areas together will do it!" Zachary enthusiastically overlapped the red areas, forming a blurry starship prototype that looked mismatched.
Then Zachary retrieved a data file from a top-secret document on his handheld terminal.
That was also a starship model.
It was precisely the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser!